Maciej Wąsik convicted: court announces final judgment

23 February 2024 | Author: Bartłomiej Binaś

The Court of Appeal in Warsaw has upheld the judgment of the court of first instance in the case of Maciej Wąsik. The Law and Justice (PiS) politician was sued by the Open Dialogue Foundation, which accused him of spreading a number of slanderous statements against it. The judgment is final. Wąsik will have to pay a large sum of money to the plaintiffs.

Court ruling in the case of Maciej Wąsik

On Friday 23 February, the Court of Appeal in Warsaw handed down its judgement in the case against Maciej Wąsik. The PiS politician was sued by the Open Dialogue Foundation. Wąsik had accused the organisation of, among other things, having ties with Russia, money laundering and hybrid activities, and the Chair of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board, Bartosz Kramek, of “publicly calling for bloodshed”.

The court decided to dismiss the appeal and at the same time upheld the judgment of the Regional Court in Warsaw. In addition, it ordered Wąsik to pay legal fees.

“The final judgement comes more than four years after the lawsuit was filed and more than five years after Maciej Wąsik’s first defamatory statements. As the court of first instance already noted, Wąsik used defamation in the political interest of his own party. During the previous court hearings, he tried to soften the tone of his words and hid behind claims of not recalling. Earlier, he had referred to secret documents of the Internal Security Agency and supported the ‘pasquinade’ revelations of pro-government media, which were intended to justify my wife’s expulsion from Poland – while ignoring the fact that they had been repeatedly refuted by the courts and deemed unreliable by other European Union countries,” commented Bartosz Kramek, Chair of the ODF Supervisory Board, in an interview with “Wirtualna Polska”.

Bartosz Kramek also emphasised that “our judicial opponent is responsible for numerous abuses, not only from the time of the first PiS government and the early days of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, but also attacks on individuals and organisations that advocate for the rule of law and human rights. He is responsible for illegal surveillance and the inhumane treatment of refugees on the border with Belarus. It is their blood he has on his hands. And I hope that also for this he will soon be held criminally responsible, together with Kamiński and the whole gang,” said Kramek.

Maciej Wąsik has heard the final judgement

Maciej Wąsik did not appear in person at the hearing. The court heard the legal representative of the PiS politician, who had submitted evidentiary motions during the previous hearing. However, the court decided to disregard these, as they did not contribute anything to the case, as reported by Bartosz Kramek.

Today’s court judgement is final. The Chair of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board emphasises that this case is personal and very important for the organisation.

“In December, the Voivodeship Administrative Court (WSA) in Warsaw thwarted the actions of the Office for Foreigners and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) – institutions subordinate to Kamiński and Wąsik – undertaken against my wife for political reasons. The Law and Justice (PiS) party unscrupulously turned state institutions into their private playground and abused their power in a vindictive and repressive way not only to fight political opponents, but also to quash activists defending the rule of law or refugees at the state border. Wąsik is one of the main perpetrators and the face of this practice,” says Kramek.

Source: goniec.pl

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Defamation case win against Wąsik. Court hands down final judgement (February 23, 2024)

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